So, 23 dates, (mostly) over four weeks of touring. That’s a lot. In fact, I think it’s my longest tour yet. I’m very excited to go out on the road. Expect me to sleep for a week when I get home.

Also, I’m very seriously thinking of making tour t-shirts.

And now, your anticipated comments and/or needs:

You’re not coming to my town! Sorry. 23 dates and four weeks is a lot. Good news: The Human Division Part 2 comes out next year and I’ll likely tour then, and try to get to towns that I’m not visiting this time around. So you might see me then.

If I’m coming to your town and you want a signed copy of Lock In: Come to the tour stop and I’ll sign your book! I’d appreciate it if you bought the book from that store. You don’t have to wait until I show up, mind you; you can pre-order from them or buy the book when it comes out. But either way please support the booksellers who are supporting me on this tour. It’s a great way to make them and me happy. I will also sign any remaining stock of my books at that store, so even if you miss the tour date, the store will still have signed copies of my books available.

Also, if I’m coming to your town, and you can’t make the tour stop but you still want to support your local bookseller: Order the book from the store and ask them to have me sign it when I’m there for the tour. I will happily do that, even if you are not physically present.

So if you’re not coming anywhere near my town on tour (and why would you, since I live in the middle of nowhere, NM) would ordering from Jay & Mary’s be preferable to you over ordering from the publisher? I see J&M’s got a Scalzi tab on their website but they don’t have an order link for Lock In yet.

@SusanB I have the same problem, except I’ll be in another country when he comes to my home town. I appreciate the tip about pre-ordering the book at the bookstore so that I can still get a signed copy.

We (Jeff and I) are excited you’re coming back to NC – and for two stops! Now just to decide which of the bookstores… (equidistant from Durham, and both good. Flyleaf has better speaking space, I think, ooh and right down the road from Sage….)

That said, I love the idea of selling easily available signed books through Subterranean. I’ve gotten to the point where 90%+ of what I read is in ebook form. As a result, I don’t have much to add to my bookshelves, and yet I love the aesthetic (and ego stroking) that comes from having a full bookshelf that’s always changing and growing.

As an example, I’ve read all of your Old Man’s War universe books and Fuzzy Nation, but they were all e-books that I purchased or borrowed from the library. So there’s no Scalzi on my shelf, despite how much of your work I’ve read. That makes me sad. However, it doesn’t make me sad enough to randomly buy paperbacks or hardcovers just to have something on my shelves, when e-books are just so much more convenient.

Enter signed books. I decided a while back to keep an eye out for opportunities to pick up signed books by authors I enjoy. This way I have more of an excuse to buy dead-tree books. I’ll still mostly buy/borrow most of what I read in e-book form, but when I have the chance, I can add to the shelves by picking up books that are a little more special. So far this has only resulted in me picking up a signed copy of wunderkind Max Gladstone’s Three Parts Dead. But since I just finished pre-ordering Lock In, I’ll be adding to that.

Long way of saying both “thanks!” and “this is a good way to make more money off of me!”

Hmmmm…well, this is something of a quandary. Troy is about twice as far for me than Cincinnati (27 and 59 miles respectively). I’m assuming that Troy will be the regular kind of meet and greet with a bit of a reading, some Q&A and the like whereas Books By The Banks looks like more of a convention-style event of just signing. Is that a correct assumption?

wonder if we will see some youtube videos where scalzi goes ‘hello ‘city name’ and its the wrong city.

damn is that 4 weeks away from home? doesn’t look like you have any scheduled trips home. i believe other authors have told me they can’t get any real work done when they do tours either. thats alot of lost productivity.

University Bookstore in Seattle is wonderful. so glad you are making them one of your stops. As much as I like Elliot Bay books, University Bookstore is still my favorite place to browse for books. September 3rd is on the calendar!

I lived in Chapel Hill for 4 years in the mid-90s, and was back there just last month. If you’re there for dinner, I recommend the shrimp and grits at “Crook’s Corner.” Lunch, I really like the “Acme Diner” in Carrboro. And breakfast, a chicken and cheese biscuit from “Time Out.” (Although if you value your heart health, perhaps skip that last one.)

Re Pent–er, I mean Petaluma: I know you like guitars, so check out Tall Toad Music down the street if you have not in the past. They’ve got quite the lovely and affordable selection. Very dangerous if you’re an impulse buyer. ;)

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Either way, when you’re in Massachusetts, plan a trip across the river to the Taza factory. Fantastic chocolate, made the Mexican way…and the tour starts and ends in the outlet store with free samples. The cinnamon is a traditional flavor, but I adore the salted almond in the summer.

I notice there is no stop at Powell’s Books in Beaverton, Oregon where we saw you last time. Hopefully that was a simple oversight and will be on the list next time. Remember this is the home of VooDoo Donuts…

I was so bummed, thinking I wouldn’t be getting back to Denver in time to make the signing. Then I realized that not only do I get back from Atlanta that morning, but while I’m in Atlanta you will be in Decatur. So clearly I’m stalking you, and I just didn’t know it. Now to decide on Denver, Decatur or both… (That Decatur Book Festival does look like my kind of fun.)

Speaking of book signings…I really, *really* wish that hardbacks in bookstores didn’t cost 200% of what the ebooks cost off Amazon.

[snips long justification for buying ebooks]

What if…what if local bookstores who were holding signings also sold “Gayrunteed Offeeshall Slipcovahs” or “GO Index Cards” for signing by the author in question? (+/- bringing in the ereader to demo previous purchase) I’m having an ereader cover made with a transparent slot on the outside – I’d tuck the signed GOS into the slot and make like I was reading Scalzi when I was really thumbing through Capital in the 21st Century or something equally mindnumbing.

Look, there – author profits when I buy ebooks, bookstore profits by selling me a printed 8X11 page for 3-5 bucks, I profit by having books in a form I like (which is also cheaper) AND a token of swag from the great mind hisself. Underpants for everyone!

@keranih If you have an android based tablet, or are looking to switch in the near future, look into Kobo. They may have a partnership with your local bookstore. Then you can associate your Kobo account with your chosen bookstore and whenever you buy ebooks through Kobo, a percentage of the proceeds will go to that store.

I did not scour all 69 comments so I apologize in advance if I am repeating a question:
*Which* Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia will you be at? I am guessing that you will not be at the University City at Penn’s campus – because they are a rather feeble lot – with the Kelly Writers House and all kinds of other good stuff going on, I guess they abdicate the idea of being a good bookstore and rely on the professors (fewer and fewer) who don’t order their books at one of the local independent bookstores (which actually are crappy and run by socialists who never buy enough books ahead of time for the classes).

Oops sorry my question disintegrated into a small rant. It is an issue close to my heart.

So, in summary: Which B&N in Philadelphia? I want to be sure I’m not guessing wrong!
Thanks. And bear up! That is quite an ambitious tour you’ve got going on!!

Is your Saratoga stop going to be a ticketed event? Sometimes Northshire has normal book readings with authors where you show up for free, and then buy something if you’re so inclined, to show appreciation to the store for hosting the author.

Other times, especially with bigger authors, they have ticketed events where you pay whatever the event fee is and get a signed copy of the book being promoted as part of the cost.

If it’s not going to be a ticketed event, I’ll swing up to their store and buy Lock In on 8/26 when it comes out and then bring it with me. If it IS a ticketed event, I’ll hold off and get the book on 9/17.

Thanks in advance for any clarification you can provide! It probably won’t get posted on their website until sometime in mid-August.

I am a huge fan of your work, but I am also legally blind. Thus, buying a physical copy of your book from the bookstore to get signed is sort of, other than your signature, a poor use of my money. I plan to get the books on audible.com, but you can’t exactly sign those… How can I get a signature and also support you at the store?

Really looking forward to seeing you in Philly! I hope you’re okay signing a few of your other books (in addition to Lock In, which I will of course purchase) that I already own when you’re doing your signing?

Just a heads up. You may want to reach out to the Decatur Book Festival. As far as I can tell (and I looked pretty diligently), the Decatur book festival does not have you listed (1) in Fantasy/Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction (or any other genre as far as I can tell) or (2) scheduled at all on Sunday.

September 3rd at University Bookstore in Seattle? (went to 1st grade in University Elementary just up the street) but no visit to Powell’s City of Books in Portland, just 3 short hours south of there? I definitely haz a sad!!! How can one tour without stopping at Powell’s, the most awesomestly humongous bookstore of all time?

Do you know what time the signing is in Cincinnati? Will be in Dayton the next day for a half marathon, so would like to stop in Cincy on the way there from Nashville. You’ll love the Gurnee Library – it’s very nice. I used to live about 10 minutes from there.

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